A review I wrote for Dream Creation of an incredible event …

The Valley, Suffolk

July 18-21st, 1997

The first of the surprises to yours truly was the presence of Loic and Stef from Total Eclipse. After Hallucinogen’s wicked ambient excursion and the subsequent Celtic Cross performance with Youth, the French duo offered a most thrilling, flowing, psychedelic ambient set to assist a stunning sunset which took place opposite a rising full moon. Unforgettable!

I then attended a drumming/dancing circle and meditation led by Medicine Drum’s Chris Deckker in an oak grove. The vibe here was incredibly powerful, and I was not the only one who entered a very deep personal and group space. I had never experienced the power of such a healing circle before, and certainly did emerge transformed. After a chill-out with some friends (the general vibe of the party/festival – the music seemed optional, really), we went to the barn near the food area where a wicked party was underway. Simon Hallucinogenius played a thoroughly kicking 3-hour set of his own tunes (with DATs being fed to him by Youth), and favourites by X-Dream, Lorenzo, and others. The vibe was thoroughly over-the-top, and proved that beautiful music with clear engineering is still very much in demand.

It was perhaps this set that characterized a great deal of what we want in trance parties, and what is missing. Beyond the irony that a massive sound system was a few hundred yards up the road in a valley under a starlit sky while we were cramped in a hot barn, the fact that Simon, Youth, Doof, and others were there playing for the fun of it on the other side of a table – not on stage, not away from the crowd – cut through the commercialization of the party scene and straight to the heart of what it is all about: fun, spontaneity, transience.

The magic of hearing one of the scene’s most gifted producers presenting his favourite tunes went beyond anything that can be planned, labeled, bottled, or marketed – at least the way things are going now. There were only a hundred or so people there, yet something remarkable had taken place. That’s what these parties are supposed to be – people somehow intersecting a set of special circumstances in time and space. Let’s hope that larger events can somehow aim to capture the innocence and purity of the behind-the-scenes fun times at the Valley. Transient, perhaps, but certainly memorable.

© Mark Ainley, 1997